From the mid-nineteenth century British policy in the region had been torn between the desire to protect the Suez canal, by shielding the ailing Ottoman Empire against Tsarist expansion, and liberal indignation over ‘Turkish atrocities’ in the Balkans. Turkey’s decision to join the Central Powers in October 1914 turned London’s policy in a decidedly turkophobic direction. In December, London declared a protectorate over Egypt, triggering the Russians into expansive claims on Ottoman territory, which Britain and France sought to contain in the spring of 1916 with the so-called Sykes-Picot
...more
